I doubt this thread will get too much in the way of replies but I figure I'd start it anyways. I had the vague idea that I was a perfectionist before but when surfing wikipedia the other day I came across something very humbling and depressing that actually perfectly described my thought process and showed why I've been an under-achiever my entire life. I discovered that I have a case of Neurotic Perfectionism, what's neurotic perfectionism you might ask?
Hamachek describes two types of perfectionism. Normal perfectionists "derive a very real sense of pleasure from the labours of a painstaking effort" while neurotic perfectionists are "unable to feel satisfaction because in their own eyes they never seem to do things [well] enough to warrant that feeling of satisfaction". Burns defines perfectionists as "people who strain compulsively and unremittingly toward impossible goals and who measure their own worth entirely in terms of productivity and accomplishment"
and some aspects of this are
Daniels & Price (2000) refer to perfectionists as "ones". Perfectionists are focused on personal integrity and can be wise, discerning and inspiring in their quest for the truth. They also tend to dissociate themselves from their flaws or what they believe are flaws (such as negative emotions) and can become hypocritical and hypercritical of others, seeking the illusion of virtue to hide their own vices. The greatest fear of perfectionists is to be flawed and their ultimate goal is perfection.
When I first read this I was rather scared by how accurately it described my thought process and revealed some bits I never knew about it.

So I guess my question for the forum is, have you ever discovered an aspect of yourself that you never knew about before? Do any of you perhaps have a problem like mine?